Blade play

CPP

CPP

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
1,518
I bought the Valet a few months ago and, overall, I like it a lot. Before I bought it I had read a review of it that said it had some blade play–both vertical and side-to-side. After buying it I saw no blade play whatsoever for the first month or two and then all of the sudden I noticed it had developed some vertical and side-to-side blade play. Not a serious amount, nor an amount that is likely to affect function but for a knife costing $170 it is somewhat disappointing. I took the knife apart as it needed a cleaning anyway and tried tightening the screws in different orders thinking that maybe the problem was due to a shifting of the handles. The problem persists. I still regularly use it and have no problems using it but, again, I am disappointed. As this was my first Axis lock and I have not had this problem on any of my other knives–frame lock, liner lock, back lock and even slip-joint–I went to Bass Pro Shops and handled a few of their Benchmade knives with Axis locks. I held the blade of each between my fingers and found the same minuscule amount of vertical blade play. Is this normal for Axis Locks or am I being neurotic? Also, the side-to-side play on my Valet remains unless the pivot is tightened to point where opening it is difficult.
 
You should do a search on the subject there are quite a few threads on Bfs about this.
Yes and No, I have many BM Axis models without any side to side or vertical blade play. Recently both 531s I bought and a new m390 Ritter Griptilian (552) also were prefect, loose pivot solid lock up and no blade play.
However both the full sized (14715) and the Mini (14716) HK Axis knives I have have a bit of vertical blade play but are otherwise perfect. If I hold the blade with my other hand I can get a slight up and down movement that may work out in time.
My 485 Valet however had some vertical blade play as well as some horizontal play. Once I adjusted the pivot to remove the blade play the knife is very hard to open on handed. Part is the tight pivot and part is where the thumb-stud is too close to the pivot and also very small. I love the lines of the Valet but I fear it will get little pocket time with 2 perfect 531s at my disposal.
If you are unhappy you can send it in to Benchmade but CALL FIRST.
 
Did you use loctite ?Sometimes I have difficulty finding the sweet spot when adjusting the pivot.It can be discouraging, but eventually the S spot is found.......
 
Axis locks are very hit or miss. I've owned probably 20 and only 5 have been what I would consider solid...940-1, 746, 908, 943, and 551. I really like the axis lock and many BM designs, but their tendency to have/develop play has turned me off. The only 2 I still own are the 908 and 551ORG.
 
I have owned a little over a half dozen Axis lock knives and every one of them was perfect with no play whatsoever. I currently edc a KW 710 and it's been flawless. The pivot screw does take some tuning from factory, but nothing difficult. I used Teflon tape to keep it in place and it flips open or closed with very little effort.
 
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